JPH0527673U - Metabolic cage - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] To provide a metabolic cage that is significantly superior to conventional metabolic cages. [Structure] A cage body 1 has a door 3 in front thereof, a urine collecting funnel 4 has a slide 5 at an end thereof, and the cage body 1 and a feeder 6 are provided.
Is connected by a passage 7, and a drainage pipe 9 is provided in the water supply section, which is a metabolic cage. [Effect] The urine of a small animal can be collected in a substantially pure state, and the small animal in the urine is easily handled.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a metabolic cage. More particularly, the present invention relates to a small animal metabolic cage capable of collecting small animal urine and feces during small animal urine examination.

[0002]

[Prior Art]

 In particular, in the drug screening stage, urinalysis of small animals is generally performed as one means for knowing the metabolism of the drug, lesions of the kidney or urinary tract, functional changes of the heart, liver or endocrine glands.

Therefore, in the urine test, it is natural that urine of a small animal must be collected, and a metabolic cage is usually used for this.

However, in the conventional metabolic cage, it is inconvenient to take small animals in and out of the metabolic cage, and at the same time, handling of small animals is inconvenient, and the burden on the experimenter is excessive. Moreover, in the conventional one, it was not easy to observe the feces because the feces accumulated in the metabolic cage in a place where it could not be seen from the outside. Further, the conventional one has a drawback that impurities such as food and water for water supply are easily mixed in the collected urine. Furthermore, the conventional ones were closed because the daylight was not sufficient, and it was difficult to observe the small animals from outside the cage, and there was a concern about stress on the small animals.

[0005]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a metabolic cage that is far superior to conventional metabolic cages.

[0006]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 The present inventors have conducted studies to achieve the above object, and have devised a metabolic cage that has the following characteristics and is desirable to have the characteristics.

A door 3 is provided in front of the cage body 1, a variable slide 5 is provided at the end of the urine collecting funnel 4, and a gap is provided between the urine collecting funnel 4 and the slide 5. , The cage body 1 and the feeder 6 are connected by a passage 7, the drainage pipe 9 is provided in the water supply section, the front and side surfaces of the cage body 1 are in a lattice shape,

That is, as shown in the accompanying drawings. Examples of the material of the metabolic cage according to the present invention (hereinafter referred to as “the cage”) include stainless steel and the like, but any material commonly used for metabolic cages of small animals can be used.

Examples of small animals include mice, rats, guinea pigs, hamsters and the like.

The present invention will be described in detail below.

With respect to the above features, since this cage has a door 3 on the front of the cage body 1 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the experimenter can very easily put in and take out small animals. it can.

Therefore, in this cage, unlike the conventional metabolic cage, there is no need to pull out the entire cage or the upper part (the cage body) of the metabolic cage from the rack every time a small animal is taken in and out. It is possible to easily carry out the work such as administration of the test substance and observation of symptoms, which are usually performed several times while being put in the container. In addition, in the conventional metabolic cage, a flask or the like (hereinafter simply referred to as “flask”) that stores urine excreted every time a small animal is taken out from the metabolic cage must be displaced in advance, but this cage requires this. There is no loss of urine due to forgetting to shift.

With respect to the above features, this cage has a special slide 5 at the end of the urine collecting funnel 4 as shown in FIG. 1, and a slight gap is opened between them. Therefore, the urine flows down from the gap to the lower flask, and the feces slide down from the slide 5 to the lower tray or the like. Here, the slide 5 is of a variable type using a screw or the like, but this is because consideration has been given to adjusting the inclination of the slide 5 according to the size of feces.

Therefore, since feces are always visible in this cage, it is possible to easily observe feces, which is one of the important experimental items in metabolic experiments. In the conventional cage, when observing feces, the urine collection funnel must be pulled out from the cage body in order to keep the feces visible, and in order to do so, it is necessary to shift the flask in advance. However, this cage does not require this, and there is no loss of urine due to forgetting to shift.

Regarding the above features, the cage has a structure in which the cage body 1 and the feeder 6 are connected by a passage 7 as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and the width of the passage is set by screws or the like. It can be adjusted with. That is, the small animal must go to the feeder 6 through the passage 7 to eat the food.

Therefore, in the present cage, food waste and the like do not fall into the cage body 1, and it is unlikely that food waste or the like is mixed in the flask. In addition, since the width of the passage 7 can be adjusted according to the size of the small animal in this cage, if the width of the passage 7 is correctly adjusted to the size of the small animal, the small animal can bring back the food to the cage body 1. I can't.

Regarding the above features, this cage has a drain pipe 9 in the water supply portion, as shown in FIGS.

Therefore, in the conventional metabolic cage, when water leaks, there is an unfavorable situation in which water flows directly from the cage body into the urine collection funnel, and water is mixed into the urine-collected flask. In this cage, even if a water leak should occur, it is unlikely that water will flow from the drain pipe 9 to the lower tray or the like and water will be mixed into the flask.

Regarding the above-mentioned features, it is desirable that the present cage has a shape of a half or more from the top of the cage body 1, as shown in FIGS. This is because the small animals can be sufficiently exposed to light, which is more open, and the cage body 1 has a form that is not much different from that of a normal breeding cage.

Therefore, this facilitates observation of the small animal from outside the cage. In addition, since the cage body 1 has a shape that is not much different from that of the rearing cage, the stress on the small animals due to being transferred from the rearing cage to the surrogate cage (main cage) is relieved, and the lack of exercise from the stress. It is expected that the adverse effects such as weight loss and weight control will be reduced.

[0021]

[Effect of the device]

 From the above, according to this cage, (1) urine excreted by small animals can be collected in an almost pure state, (2) handling of small animals in urine collection, and (3) urine discharged to small animals in urine collection. Drug administration can be easily performed. Further, by making the cage body 1 into a lattice shape, it is possible to easily observe the symptoms of small animals in the urine collection.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side view of the cage.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the cage.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of the cage.

FIG. 4 is a rear view of the cage.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Cage main body 2 Lattice 3 Door 4 Urine collection funnel 5 Slide 6 Feeder 7 Passage 8 Water feeder 9 Drain pipe

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A cage body 1 having a door 3 in front thereof, a urine collecting funnel 4 having a variable slide 5 at an end thereof, and a gap between the urine collecting funnel 4 and the slide 5 A metabolic cage characterized in that the cage body 1 and the feeder 6 are connected by a passage 7 and that a drain pipe 9 is provided in the water supply section.